Suppli: Vol. 1

(aka Sapuri)
by Mari Okazaki

Synopsis(from the back of the book)
The skies are always clearer after a storm....

After her boyfriend of several years dumps her, Minami realizes she's shut out everything else in her life. Now, at twenty-seven years old, ambitious Minami throws herself into her advertising job and experiences life -- and love -- for the first time.

From Mari Okazaki, the edgy, provocative author of Sweat & Honey, comes a tale of rediscovering love.

Review
I was excited when I found out about this josei manga. I'd hoped that it would be more mature and realistic, since it's for women, not girls.

Of course not, how silly of me to get my hopes up. It's always the same problems. We're supposed to like the main character, Minami (everyone calls her Fujii, though), because she's just lost her boyfriend, and is now lonely, and has no support system. It's a start, but I still don't know much about her, like what her hopes and dreams are, and honestly, it seems like she doesn't either. I don't know why she's sad about her boyfriend. He really wasn't that great of a guy, and as it turns out, he was cheating on her. I understand why though -- Fujii was rarely home to spend time with him, so he likely found someone else who would.

So, she has to put her life back together, and she starts making friends from work. It turns out one of her coworkers, Ishida, has had a crush on her for a long time. He's supposedly a potential love interest, but I don't like him at all. He's sullen, rude, thoughtless, and immature. Seriously, he tries to get her attention by blocking her way to the bathroom, saying nasty things to her, and trying to make her jealous by looking like he's interested in other women. I remember a guy doing that once to me, but that was when I was 15. What a loser, if Ishida is that immature.

Then there's another coworker, Ogiwara, who seems like the perfect guy. But he isn't. It's only hinted at in this volume, but he's seeing someone other than Fujii. To tell the truth, I did buy the next book, but stopped in the middle when the main character started doing what I thought were really stupid things.

I really don't know what this series is about. Maybe it's supposed to be slice-of-life, which I like, but it doesn't go anywhere, it just meanders as the main character can't figure out what she really wants out of life. Maybe it's supposed to be about the discovery. I guess I don't consider making bad decisions when you're twenty-seven, and being a workaholic so you don't have to think about where your life is going to be an interesting journey. I find it dull, irritating and trite. I want to yell at the main character for being such an idiot.

Final thought: I give up on this series.